They Were My Lover and My Best Friend, Until They Became Each Other’s Chapter 06
“Enjoy the show?”
The deep voice carried a hint of amusement as I slipped into the backseat of the Rolls-Royce Ghost waiting beside the road.
I leaned back against the leather seat and smiled for the first time in a long while.
“I did, actually,” I replied softly. “My dear uncle.”
The first time I received that overseas email, I met the only blood relative I had left in this world.
That was also when I finally learned the truth about my past.
My biological mother had once been the heiress of an old-money dynasty. She had abandoned her family for love, only to discover later that the man she sacrificed everything for had betrayed her.
So she returned home.
And after taking control of the family empire, she died protecting her younger brother during a brutal power struggle.
That younger brother was Arthur Sterling.
And I was the daughter she left behind.
In the chaos after her death, I was kidnapped and trafficked across several cities before eventually ending up in Silverport. By then, I barely remembered anything except my own name.
When I was seven, I was dumped into the foster care system.
That was where I met Sloane.
Nine years after Arthur Sterling reclaimed control of the Sterling family empire, he finally found me.
The first thing he asked me was simple.
“Do you want to come home with me?”
If I had gone with him back then, everything in Silverport would have been left behind forever.
Poverty.
Hunger.
The endless desperation of fighting over scraps just to survive.
Arthur would have given me wealth, power, status, and everything money could buy. He would have raised me as his sole heir.
But at the time, Damien was at the lowest point of his life.
He had nothing.
No money. No power. No future.
And yet even then, he had loved me with clumsy, wholehearted sincerity.
Back then, Damien was my entire world.
And I could not abandon Sloane either.
So I stayed.
Arthur never tried to force me.
Instead, he quietly helped Damien rise through the ranks behind the scenes. He pulled strings to protect Sloane in Silverport and warned off the people who might have targeted us.
He even arranged for me to attend Saint Jude’s University so I could continue my education.
The last time we parted, Arthur handed me an email address.
He gently rested a hand on my head and said quietly, “I don’t trust Damien Blackwood. Men like him are obsessive. The second cracks appear in a relationship like yours…”
He stopped there after noticing the displeasure on my face.
Then he changed the subject with a faint smile.
“You can contact me anytime. As long as you want it, your home will always be waiting for you.”
At the time, I dismissed his warning completely.
Now every word had come true.
The moment I finally saw Damien and Sloane for who they really were, I sent an email to the address from the Commonwealth of Aurelion.
And this time, I chose to leave.
Which was why, the second I jumped from that cliff, Arthur’s people were already there waiting to pull me out of the ocean.
Arthur studied my calm expression through the rearview mirror and chuckled softly.
“We’ll stop by the branch office first. It’s time you met the people who’ll be working under you.”
The Rolls-Royce sped down the highway.
As fate would have it, it passed Damien’s convoy on the road.
Something made Damien glance up suddenly.
“Serena…”
He frowned as the black luxury car disappeared into the distance.
Must’ve been his imagination.
That license plate belonged to one of the personal vehicles favored by the ruler of Aurelion’s most powerful old-money family.
Serena was missing, possibly dead.
There was no way she could’ve been inside that car.
Damien let out a low laugh, but the violence in his eyes could no longer be hidden.
That night, the entire city of Silverport witnessed exactly how ruthless Damien Blackwood could be.
Every family involved in hurting Serena was dragged down without mercy.
And when Damien finally arrived at the mansion belonging to the men responsible for destroying Serena’s unborn baby, every lookout outside had already been quietly restrained.
Inside the mansion, one of the men laughed smugly, flashing yellowed teeth as he drank with his friends.
“You have no idea how stupid Damien Blackwood is,” he cackled. “I crushed his woman’s baby, and the idiot still handed me territory afterward.”
The man smirked obscenely.
“Shame, though. That woman was gorgeous. She cried so hard while begging me, saying the baby belonged to Damien. But hey, Sloane Harrington paid good money for that job. I was hired to get rid of the kid.”
He licked his lips with a disgusting grin.
“Otherwise, I might’ve taken my time enjoying her first…”
He never noticed the room had gone completely silent.
Across from him, the drunken men at the table were trembling violently.
“S-stop talking…” one of them stammered.
The man snorted.
“What’s with you losers? Don’t tell me you weren’t drooling over her too. Honestly, once Damien gets bored of Sloane, maybe I’ll get another shot at that little ex-wife of his…”
The others lowered their heads so far they practically disappeared under the table.
But the man kept laughing crudely.
“Then maybe I’ll even get to try her in my own bed when tha…”
Bang!